Spyware is one of the most vexing challenges to face computer users today. Industry analysts, corporations, government leaders, and consumer advocacy groups all identify spyware as a serious problem that threatens to undermine public trust in computing. The term spyware refers to a wide range of software programs designed to take partial control of a computer, typically without the consent of the owner or legitimate user. Spyware uses this control to generate unsolicited pop-up advertising on a computer, collect and/or communicate user's personal information and behaviors, such as Web-browsing habits, for marketing purposes, or change the configuration of a computer. Many behaviors associated with spyware are also used for legitimate purposes. For example, spyware typically starts automatically. But the same is true of antivirus and firewall software. Both can be set to start automatically when they are loaded (a feature called “autostart”) and both can provide automatic updating at the user's convenience. But an important distinction between spyware and legitimate software is that legitimate software is expected to provide a clear way to turn these settings off or on, or to change them.
Identifying and analyzing spyware is also a complex challenge. New forms of spyware are constantly under development, and the same technology that can make spyware malicious and unwanted also appears in software that users want to keep and use on their computers, such as antivirus software. It is not always possible for software to determine whether a program is something the customer wants to preserve or remove. In addition, spyware-based threats to security continue to evolve, becoming more complex and sophisticated, and propagating with increasing speed. Even worse, spyware and other unwanted software have begun to employ techniques to gain access to users' computers that were once only used by software such as viruses, trojans, and other purposefully malicious software (called “malware”).
This Background is provided to introduce a brief context for the Summary and Detailed Description that follow. This Background is not intended to be an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject matter nor be viewed as limiting the claimed subject matter to implementations that solve any or all of the disadvantages or problems presented above.